{"id":857,"date":"2026-06-30T20:40:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T20:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingandmortgagehub.com\/?p=857"},"modified":"2026-06-30T20:40:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T20:40:29","slug":"tom-kean-jr-sought-help-for-depression-he-hasnt-made-it-easy-for-others-to-do-the-same","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingandmortgagehub.com\/?p=857","title":{"rendered":"Tom Kean Jr. Sought Help for Depression. He Hasn\u2019t Made It Easy for Others To Do the Same."},"content":{"rendered":"
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On Tuesday, <\/span>US Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (D-NJ) returned to Congress after a four-month previously unexplained absence, during which he received his full salary despite missing over 100 votes.\u00a0 He revealed on the House floor that he sought treatment for depression.<\/p>

Read more The Roberts Court Knocks Down One of the Last Campaign Finance Rules<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI am grateful that I accepted help because today I stand before you healthier, stronger, and excited to return to the work that I love,\u201d Kean said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But during his two decades in the New Jersey Senate, Kean consistently opposed paid sick leave for his constituents. <\/p>\n

He voted against New Jersey\u2019s historic Earned Sick Leave Act, which mandates 5 paid sick leave days per year for New Jersey workers. He also voted against New Jersey\u2019s No Surprise Medical Bills act and two of its paid family leave laws, in 2008 and 2018.<\/p>\n

For Yarrow Willman-Cole of the nonprofit New Jersey Citizen Action, who organized for the Earned Sick Leave Act in 2018, Kean\u2019s four-month absence is bitterly ironic. \u201cHe\u2019s been able to rely on things he directly voted against,\u201d Willman-Cole said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On the House floor on Tuesday, Kean said he has been a longtime \u201csupporter of mental health care.\u201d But, he hasn\u2019t made it easier for others to take the leave they need.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want your lawmakers to really be connected to their constituents and understand what their constituents need,\u201d\u00a0 Willman-Cole said, \u201cand this disconnect with a lawmaker clearly not representing the needs of the average worker, the average family, is a problem. That\u2019s not what government should be like.\u201d<\/p>

Read more The Supreme Court Upholds Birthright Citizenship<\/a><\/p>\n

Matthew Camarda, the advocacy and public policy director of the nonpartisan NAMI New Jersey, said that all politicians should recognize the importance of the need for mental health care.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAll individuals with mental health conditions deserve that opportunity to get care and to recover on their own terms,\u201d Camarda said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kean also notably voted for Trump\u2019s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which establishes work requirements for people on Medicaid. For low-income people on Medicaid, the need to fulfill work requirements to keep their health care could be a barrier to treatment as they go into effect.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of it makes it very challenging for millions of Americans in this country who do have mental health conditions like depression to get the care that they need without risking their employment and the rest of the stability of their lives,\u201d Camarda said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whether or not Kean\u2019s voting record and absence are dealbreakers will be up to constituents in his district come November, when he is facing Democratic challenger Rebecca Bennett to keep his seat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of our lawmakers are out of touch with the reality of most working people,\u201d Willman-Cole said, \u201cbut the good news is there [are] always elections.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Ken Paxton Is in the Fight of His Life<\/a><\/p>\n<\/article>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The lawmaker spent nearly two decades voting against paid leave.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":855,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nTom Kean Jr. Sought Help for Depression. He Hasn\u2019t Made It Easy for Others To Do the Same. - Moving and Mortgage Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movingandmortgagehub.com\/?p=857\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tom Kean Jr. Sought Help for Depression. 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